Devo – Freedom of Choice

I wonder if the message I’m getting from Devo’s song “Freedom of Choice” is the one they intended? They were prescient in a lot of ways – the whole concept of devolution seems to be panning out doesn’t it? So maybe…

I wonder if the paradox of choice occurred to them? The fact that once you get more than a certain number of choices, you actually have no choice at all. “Freedom of Choice is what you got. Freedom from choice is what you want.”

I always took that as a criticism of complacent Americans. Why do we let the powerful run over us the way we do? But that line, about the dog with two bones, “He’d lick the one, he’d lick the other. He went in circles, he dropped dead…”

I think it’s just a normal reaction to choice. What if the dog had to choose the best bone out of a trillion? That’s what we’re dealing with now. I’ve heard John Vervaeke use the term “combinatorially explosive” to describe the blast of sensory input human consciousness has to navigate.

A big part of what we do on a daily basis is ignore as much as we can and choose what we must, because otherwise we’d be unable to function. And still it’s too much for our brains.

Ideally you open your mind wide enough so you can choose the best option, but if the input continues to increase, at some point you get overwhelmed.

Things were complex enough in 1980 when that song came out. I always considered Devo to be when the modern age began. Now we have the Internet. I was blown away by all the choices at first. I discovered so much music, so many points of view I hadn’t considered.

But now I can see where it was all headed: Too. Many. Choices. Internet, it’s enough to melt your brain. You only have so much time and energy. So what do you do? Choose someone, or a collection of someones, to make choices for you.

You can still find enough variety in that narrow band of choices that it can feel like you’re getting the whole picture. Or as much of it as you need. But people you trust to make up your mind for you are in the same situation. So what are you likely to get? Choices that benefit them.

Doesn’t feel very free, does it?